QuoteResearchers have discovered a key immune hormone that causes allergic reactions.
The scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center say it's a first step in developing treatments for allergic diseases.
The researchers discovered a microRNA, called miR-375, is regulated by a gene known as IL-13 and, in turn, affects whether or not IL-13 gives a person allergies.
The microRNA plays a role in asthma and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) -- a severe, often painful, food allergy that causes the throat to swell. It affects about one in every 1,000 people, but cases have been on the rise over the past 20 years, the researchers said.
MicroRNAs are short segments of RNA that can decide whether genetic messengers are changed into protein.
The researchers looked at miR-375 in both human and mice cells to determine how it played a factor in allergies. They found in subjects where miR-375 wasn't working properly, there was more of a chance of allergic disease.